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Now officially back on the clock in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau heads to the National War Memorial this morning, where, alongside the now-returned Canadian delegation to France, he’ll mark the 75th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid at a “closing commemorative ceremony,” which will “honour all those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Meanwhile, Ottawa-area Liberal MP and retired lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie, who also serves as parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations, is off to Sherbrooke, where he’ll team up with International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau for back-to-back co-hosting duties, starting with a public town hall on the now formally underway NAFTA re-negotiation – or, to use the government’s preferred term, “modernization” – followed by a “round-table consultation” with dairy farmers.

Also hitting the Quebec circuit today: International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who will take his ongoing efforts to sell Canadians on the potential riches to be gained from the Canada-European free trade deal to L’Anse-à-Beaufils, where he’ll join Revenue Minister DianeLebouthillier for a midday media availability.

Finally, iPolitics’ very own BJ Siekierski reports that former astronaut turned governor general-in-waiting Julie Payettehas formally ended her bid to seal the records of her divorce from F-35 test pilot William “Billie” Flynn, although she does, it seems, hold out hope that Canadians will “distinguish between matters of public interest and private life.”

As Siekierski notes, iPolitics has been part of the consortium of Canadian media outlets that has been battling against Payette’s attempt to protect the files from public perusal, including challenging a Maryland court order that temporarily blocked access to the file last month.

After learning that the publications involved in the challenge had agreed to publish their own respective accounts of her efforts to block the information from release on Tuesday, Payette formally advised them that she had dropped the appeal, which she maintained she had done out of concern for her family, particularly her teenage son.

Liberal MP and National Black Caucus president Greg Fergus hits the stage at the National Press Theatre to brief reporters on the now-concluded Black Leaders’ Summit – a “first for Ottawa,” as the advisory notes, which brought together “many key actors from the Black community, such as provincial ministers, spoke about challenges they faced in 2017,” and discussed “suggestions to overcome these challenges in the future.”

Later this afternoon, Sharon Johnston – who is, of course, the wife of outgoing Governor General David Johnston – will compete in what the Boys and Girls Club of Ottawa emphasizes is a “friendly bake-off.”

Also on the Ottawa to-watch list: Statistics Canada is set to publish the June retail trade figures, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. EDT.

AROUND THE WORLD

Let’s just get this out of the way: the majority of Americans believe Confederate monuments should remain in public spaces. According to a Reuters/IPSOS poll, 54 per cent want such statues to stay put, while 27 per cent want them removed and 19 per cent just don’t know.

U.S. President Donald Trump went prime time — his favourite time — last night to address troops at Fort Myer and outline the country’s renewed strategy in the 16-year-old Afghanistan war.

The president was sparse on details — you know, just little things like how many troops would be committed or how long the U.S. would engage or how success would be measured. No biggie. — but was clear that America would come out on top.

Police in Spain shot and killed Younes Abouyaaqoub, the suspected driver of the van involved in a terror attack in Barcelona last week. Police were tipped off to the suspect’s whereabouts in the Catalan countryside and opened fire when Abouyaaqoub revealed what appeared to be a suicide belt under his clothing.